REVIEWS

Fall Out Boy
Infinity On High

Fall Out Boy
Infinity On High

Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High

Released:February 6, 2007Island/Fueled By Ramen

Unlike many of their peers, Fall Out Boy opted not to make a concept album for their second major-label release; instead, they decided to stretch the musical boundaries they helped draw both on 2003’s Take This To Your Grave and 2005’s now-über-massive From Under The Cork Tree. From the first notes of the epic “Thriller,” the band (with the help of label head Sean “Jay-Z” Carter) deliver an open letter to the scene: Whether you like it or not, the band-a group of consummate underdogs-aren’t going down without a fight.

Although the album’s first single “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race,” with its militant musical underpinnings and references to World War I, isn’t necessarily representative of the album as a whole, it does illustrate a band finally content to be who they are-themselves. Lyricist Pete Wentz breaks out of his usual first-person perspective without sacrificing any insight or honesty (“Hum Hallelujah,” “I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You)”), and singer Patrick Stump delivers some of the band’s most gut-wrenching and powerful melodies to date (“Golden,” “The (After) Life Of The Party”).

Some people will love this album before they even hear it. Others, no doubt, will loathe its very existence. Whatever your gut reaction is, it probably has less to do with the music and more to do with the musician.

ROCKS LIKE:
Motion City Soundtrack’s Commit This To MemoryJohn Legend’s Once AgainThe All-American Rejects’ Move Along